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Islamic Apostacy

Reader comment on item: Blaming Islamic Apostasy Laws on Western Imperialism

Submitted by Stephen Berman (United States), Apr 10, 2006 at 13:22

Professor Pipes:

Have you considered that other religions also believe that the proper penalty for apostacy is death?

Perhaps the only difference in the Muslim world is the fact that the government still has the authority to enforce Islamic law. If the government had the authority to enforce Christian law, it would seem that the English would still be executing Catholics, the Spanish would still be executing Catholics who convert (or return) to Judaism or Protestantism.

Only several hundreds of years of civil war, executions, and unbearable repression changed what we do in the West. Indeed, until 1776, Virginia continued to administer public beatings for Baptists, just by way of example. It took the untiring work of Thomas Jefferson to convince people to stop this behavior (and John Adams failed to convince Massachusettes to discontinue religious coercion).

What happened in this West is not that the religions changed. Religions cannot really change very much. Rather, governments ceased to impose religious coercion. I suggest that the only way Muslims will come to treat this matter the same way that we do, is if they too experience the harsh consequences of centuries of religious wars, bloodshed, wholesale slaughter, as we have experienced in the West.

You raise the issue of Muslims trying to hide the fact that their law calls for death penalty for apostates. That is the kind of thing that most people would not want known about their religions, including Jews and Christians. All religions claim to be truth, and the law of excluded middle indicates that to each religion, other religions ought to be considered false. This is reality; it cannot be changed. Somehow we need to learn to get along despite our different ideologies. If Muslim nations cannot figure this out, there are natural consequences which are quite grave.
Submitting....

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Religions do change, or at least the understanding of them changes, as you yourself document. There is much in the Bible that parallels the Koran but is now defunct. Until those same parts become defunct in the Koran, we have a problem.

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Reader comments (15) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
apostasy in islam [381 words]lekanApr 29, 2006 16:3644548
Islamic Apostacy [297 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Stephen BermanApr 10, 2006 13:2242858
Religions do change? [154 words]Stephen BermanApr 12, 2006 11:4142858
The importance of allowing Islamic "reformers" more air time [129 words]Katherine McleanApr 7, 2006 22:0242684
Pure anachronism [121 words]Denis MacEoinApr 7, 2006 17:1842654
Those wacky Muslims! [31 words]Dr RJPApr 7, 2006 15:5542643
1As always, it's about the law [134 words]Victor PurintonApr 6, 2006 15:3842564
Religious Laws on Western Lands [137 words]Levi BellNov 16, 2006 01:4842564
solution to Sharia excesses [120 words]Joe E.Apr 5, 2006 17:0342475
excuse for what ? [159 words]lekanApr 29, 2006 16:5042475
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 18) [197 words]Jack DanielsApr 4, 2006 01:1842284
Ode To Jack Daniels (lurv the drink) [80 words]diggerdeviantApr 4, 2006 08:5642284
Convert out of Islam [80 words]LameesJul 27, 2010 17:3442284
Louay Safi - Saudi attack dog - blamed US for terror bust at his IIIT [126 words]Ben van de PolderApr 4, 2006 00:4042281
some holes... [112 words]Taj AshaheedApr 3, 2006 20:3742273

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